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Friday, July 29, 2016

Turkey: Good News, Bad News - Burak Bekdil

by Burak Bekdil

In a massive purge, the government sacked more than 60,000 civil
servants from the military, judiciary, police, schools and academia,
including 1,577 faculty deans who were suspended. More than 10,000
people have been arrested and there are serious allegations of torture.

Turkish prosecutors are investigating people who allege on social media that the coup attempt was in fact a hoax.

Witnesses told Amnesty International that captured military
officers were raped by police, hundreds of soldiers were beaten, some
detainees were denied food and water and access to lawyers for days.
Turkish authorities also arrested 62 children and accused them of
treason.

The good news is that the coup attempt failed and Turkey is not a
third world dictatorship run by an unpredictable military general who
loves to crush dissent. The bad news is that Turkey is run by an
unpredictable, elected president who loves to crush dissent.

In 1853, John Russell quoted Tsar Nicholas I of Russia as saying that
the Ottoman Empire was "a sick man -- a very sick man," in reference to
the ailing empire's fall into a state of decrepitude. Some 163 years
after that, the modern Turkish state follows in the Ottoman steps.

Turkey, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule, was staggering
between a hybrid democracy and bitter authoritarianism. After the failed
putsch of July 15, it is being dragged into worse darkness. The silly
attempt gives Erdogan what he wanted: a pretext to go after every
dissident Turk. A witch-hunt is badly shattering the democratic
foundations of the country.

Taking advantage of the putsch attempt, the Turkish government
declared a state of emergency that will run for a period of three
months, with an option to extend it for another quarter of a year.
Erdogan, declaring the state of emergency, promised
to "clean out the cancer viruses like metastasis" in the body called
Turkey. With the move for a state of emergency, Turkey also suspended the European Convention on Human Rights, citing Article 15 of the Convention, which stipulates:

"In time of war or other public emergencies threatening
the life of the nation, any High Contracting Party may take measures
derogating from its obligations under this Convention to the extent
strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such
measures are not inconsistent with its other obligations under
international law."

Before July 15, civil liberties in Turkey were de facto in the deep freeze. Now they are de jure in the deep freeze.

On July 27, the Turkish military purged
1,684 officers, including 149 generals, on suspicion that they had
links with Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Muslim cleric who once was
Erdogan's staunchest political ally but is now his biggest nemesis and
the suspected mastermind of the coup attempt. On the same day, the
government closed down
three news agencies, 16 television stations, 23 radio stations, 45
newspapers, 15 magazines and 29 publishers on the same charges. Two days
before those actions, warrants were issued for 42 journalists, as a part of an investigation against members of the "Fethullah [Gulen] terrorist organization."

Under the state of emergency, it is dangerous in Turkey even to
question whether July 15 was a fake coup orchestrated or tolerated by
Erdogan for longer-term political gains. Turkish prosecutors are investigating people
who allege on social media that the coup attempt was in fact a hoax.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said that: "Anyone who suggests the coup
attempt was staged 'likely had a role' in the insurrection." But there
is more.

In a massive purge, the government sacked more than 60,000 civil
servants from the military, judiciary, police, schools and academia,
including 1,577 faculty deans who were suspended. More than 10,000
people have been arrested, and there are serious allegations of torture.
Witnesses told Amnesty International that captured military officers
were raped by police, hundreds of soldiers were beaten, and some
detainees were denied food, water and access to lawyers for days. Turkish authorities also arrested
62 children and accused them of treason. The youngsters, aged 14 to 17,
were from Kuleli Military School in Istanbul. The students have
reportedly been thrown in jail and are not allowed to speak to their
parents.

The witch-hunt is not in the governmental sector only. Several Turkish companies have fired hundreds
of personnel suspected of having links with Gulen. Turkish Airlines,
Turkey's national airline, fired 211 employees, including a vice-general
manager and a number of cabin crew members.

Sadly, Turks had to choose between two unpleasant options: military
dictatorship and elected dictatorship. The good news is that the coup
attempt failed and Turkey is not a third-world dictatorship run by an
unpredictable military general who loves to crush dissent. The bad news
is that Turkey is run by an unpredictable, elected president who loves
to crush dissent.

Burak Bekdil, based in Ankara, is a Turkish columnist for the Hürriyet Daily and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8569/turkey-coup-aftermath Follow Middle East and Terrorism on TwitterCopyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.